#Classic Lost Illusions
Finish date: 15.12.2025
Genre: novel
Rating: A+++
#Classics
Good News: What a magnificent novel…this a #MustRead!
It is a great stand alone novel but you can also
start with:
Father Goriot
Lost Illusions …and the sequel
A Harlot High and Low
Good News:
- Book starts with a detailed look at fashions, furnishings, finances, and class hierarchies in French provincial society.
- Lucien is headed for a shock in part 2: Paris is ready to crush this wannabe poet!
- Everyone wants good reviews: actresses submit to journalists….journalists submit to publishers and
- the public never reads the truth just comments paid for by interested parties who will make money!
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Lucien feels poetry is being dragged through the mire his friend says:
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“…you still have your illusions.” (part 2, pg 286)
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Why have I put off reading this novel for years…no decades?
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All of the characters want something intensely—love, money, revenge, or social recognition.
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..and now we see who is successful and who ends up in the gutter!
Bad News: I watched the 2021 movie Lost Illusions on AppleTV
The movie only tells Lucien’s story that is part 2 of the book.
My advice is to READ the book…the movie is a waste of time!
Parts 1 and 3 are missing from the movie and the ending was never written like this by Balzac!
The movie does NOT do Balzac justice! Awful!
Personal: Balzac weaves in dozens of characters in this 3 book series.
Balzac…supremely gifted storyteller,
adept at the slow windup and the rapid turn of the screw!
Balzac is a phenomenal writer!
You will not be disappointed!
NancyElin.blog 
Wonderful! My friend Didi in Normandy is reading 12 Balzac novels (in French) this year in a readalong, I have to say she makes him sound very tempting to read as well.
You can see what she’s going to be reading here or search:
Buddy Read Balzac in French in 2026
Wonderful… #BuddyReadBalzac in 2026…I’ll have a look at the You Tube video!
Oh, Balzac is very verbose…so reading in French will really be a labor of love for this author!
I read Eugénie Grandet a number of years ago and promised myself that I would read more because I enjoyed it so much. I have the first two of these on my tbr too.
Balzac reads effortlessly…he does not go into detailed descriptions like Zola. On the sidebar you can find the reading list for « French Challenge (Balzac) » … I’m doing a buddy read with blogger Didi read a Balzac novel/novella per month in French.